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Fansided

Harry Kane Can’t Stop Scoring for Spurs

By Alexander Balano

Jul 29, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Tottenham Hotspur forward Harry Kane (18) celebrates after scoring against the MLS All Stars during the first half of the 2015 MLS All Star Game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 29, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Tottenham Hotspur forward Harry Kane (18) celebrates after scoring against the MLS All Stars during the first half of the 2015 MLS All Star Game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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The 22-year-old Tottenham Hotspur striker has been on a roll for the past three games in all competitions. With Harry Kane recapturing his form, this bodes well for Spurs as they continue their winning ways.

Let’s get straight to the point. Spurs didn’t start this match off well against R.S.C. Anderlecht. For the first 20 minutes, the Belgian side were able to dominate the possession early and had numerous chances to score although none of it resulted in a goal. After those first 20 minutes, the possession battle started to even out. In a way, Anderlecht and Tottenham swapped back and forth with possession, chances created, shots and no goals being scored for the first 28 minutes.

RELATED: Key Battles: Tottenham vs Anderlecht

Now while the final stats of the game will favor Spurs in the most important categories: goals, possession and shots on target. But being out shot 18-13 in Anderlecht’s favor and having a majority of those shots, 56 percent, happen in the 18-yard box is not good.

Sure, four of Anderlecht’s shots were on target and the rest were either off target, blocked or saved, however that kind of pressure came to haunt Spurs at an inopportune time. For a majority of the game, since the 29th minute until the 72nd minute, Spurs were leading due to a Harry Kane goal. The assist came from Christian Eriksen but it was Ryan Mason who helped set up the scoring play after Tottenham got the ball back.

Today’s goal was Harry Kane’s sixth in all competitions, his third consecutive game where he has scored a goal and his first goal in the Europa League. It’s also probably safe to say a couple of things regarding Harry Kane this season.

One, he’s regaining his form at the perfect time. Two, the month of November is when he starts scoring allegedly. Three, this is purely coincidence when looking back at all of Tottenham’s games. But when Harry Kane scores, Spurs have won all of those games: Manchester City, A.F.C. Bournemouth, Aston Villa and now R.S.C. Anderlecht. Although Spurs almost lost tonight’s game so the streak would have been snapped.

Continuing on here are some bullet points following Spurs’ 2-1 win over Anderlecht:

More from Hotspur HQ

  • Mauricio Pochettino made three changes in his starting eleven: Kieran Trippier, Ben Davies and Ryan Mason.
  • Son Heung-min made his return into the squad and was able to play after replacing Christian Eriksen in the 59th minute.
  • Mousa Dembélé scored his third goal of the season in all competitions: Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Anderlecht.
  • Josh Onomah has made his second consecutive appearance this season in all competitions: Aston Villa and Anderlecht.
  • Spurs sit atop Group J in the Europa League with seven points in four games.

For the purposes of trying to find some negatives, there’s one that stood out and that was the slow start. It shouldn’t be a problem because Spurs won the game in the end, so everything should be all positives right? The only reason why a slow start can be considered a problem is because Tottenham needed to win this game.

On matchday three at Anderlecht, Brussels, Spurs started the game at a fast tempo but eventually tailed off in the end. For tonight’s game, a must win game, Tottenham started slow. The passes didn’t have any zip on it, the possession they had were mostly in their own half and a good portion of the passes — at the time before Spurs started moving forward — went sideways and backwards.

As the game wore on, yes things got better, but it is a bit worrying to see a must win game start off the way that it did tonight. If the plan was to conserve energy for the second half and especially Sunday’s match against Arsenal then that would make sense. However, favoring one game over another, in this case the next game and not the current game being played, could have had consequences for Spurs’ Europa League hopes and maintaining two chances at reaching the Champions League.

Next: Totttenham Links: Harry Redknapp Believes Spurs Can Beat Arsenal

But. moving on. Tottenham won, it’s time to focus on Sunday’s north London derby. Spurs must go all out on a weakened Arsenal side who will have at least 10 players injured. They have to, otherwise they will miss out on a golden opportunity to reach fourth place for at least two weeks until the international break is over.